The Surface Studio has a 28-inch, 4.5K “ultra-HD” screen that Panay said is “the thinnest desktop monitor ever created”,

“You have to think here we reinvented the backlight, the prism sheets, the colour filters, the polarisers, the glass itself, all coming together,” he said. “It was a ton of work.”

Where the Surface Studio differs from rivals is in a smooth “zero gravity” hinge that allows it to perform like other Surface products.

The screen can be moved from an upright “desktop” mode to a 20-degree angle “studio” mode, which Microsoft said was “the same angle as a standard drafting board, making it ideal for sketching, writing and designing.”

Microsoft also created a new peripheral called Surface Dial – a kind of haptic mouse that can be placed directly onto the screen and used to scroll, zoom, navigate or otherwise control what you’re working on. It is an extra purchase of US$99.

It is intended to be used in conjunction with a Surface Pen, allowing designers to use both hands and never have to stop creating to change a setting or function.

“When you place the Dial directly on the screen, it brings up a set of digital tools specific to the app that is open, allowing people to more seamlessly move through their workflow,” Microsoft said.

“For example, with Surface Dial, artists can change the colour or the size of their brush tip as they paint without ever moving the pen away from the screen.”

The Surface Dial.

While the Surface Studio is arguably still, for all intents and purposes, a high-end desktop computer, Microsoft was keen to shed that image at launch.

Its promotional videos include creators using it against a backdrop of ‘Pure Imagination’ from Willy Wonka.